


Live With It

by amberalyson



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Ending, Coming of Age, F/F, F/M, Family, Forgiveness, Happy Ending, LGBT, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lev - POV, POV First Person, Spoilers, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25344850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberalyson/pseuds/amberalyson
Summary: What happens if Ellie somehow leaves that beach with Abby and Lev. Is forgiveness possible? - A story told from Lev's point of view.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Lev/OC (The Last of Us)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 136





	1. The end is the beginning

Hello, my name is lev. I am 13 years old and I am a slave.

I wasn’t always. It has really only been a couple of months but it feels like forever. We pick fruits. Abby and me. Abby is my hero. She saved me and accepted me when I had nobody else. She is brave, honest and a true fighter. When I first met her, she was big and strong like an ox. She is a lot thinner now. They are almost starving us. I know we will die if we stay here. If I just knew how to leave.

“Wake up, Lev.” Abby was standing by my side. We were still in our cell. We lived here, me, Abby and Holly who was another slave.

“What?” I asked. I couldn’t see the sun yet from our window and the working day was long enough I didn’t want to wake too early too.

“It’s Holly, see!” Abby whispered. I looked at Holly’s bed but she wasn’t there. She was standing at the wall bend forward hiding her face. It was hard to miss what was happening. She was becoming a demon.

“I think she was bitten yesterday somehow,” Abby whispered. I couldn’t read her face. She was looking at Holly.

“What should we do?” I asked. I didn’t have my bow anymore and Abby didn’t have a gun or a knife. Holly, the demon would kill us.

“We will never get an opportunity like this again. When the guard comes, we have to run, okay?” She looked almost desperate, but she was probably right. Abby threw a small stone against the door and Holly followed the sound. Now the demon was standing with her back to us and her front against the door and then we just waited in silence.

The sound of the key in the door was our cue. When the door opened Abby pushed Holly out against the guard and with them both on the floor, we ran.

I heard screaming and shouting behind us, then I heard shooting but we just ran. I think we almost made it. Almost. A dog closed his jaw around my leg and I fell.  
  


“I got her,” for a moment I thought that they’ve got Abby too but then I understood that they meant me.

A part of me wanted to scream ‘if you are going to kill me at least use the right pronouns’ but I didn’t. I just let the guy get the dog off my leg and then he pulled me away. 

“Did you get the dyke?” I know he meant Abby. Abby wasn’t a lesbian; the guy was just an homophobic asshole.  
“No, the bitch got away.” I couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across my face, she got away!  
“What are you smiling about?” I saw the hit coming but could nothing do. He knocked me out cold.

I woke up as I was dragged over the ground.

“What?” … is happening? Everything was hurting. I think they beat me when I was unconscious.  
“We are taking you to the pillars! It is over for you,” the man said laughing. I felt myself getting cold with fear. I had seen the horror that happened at the pillars and I didn’t want to experience it.

“Abby!” I tried to scream but one of the men hit me in the stomach.

“Don’t worry! That bitch is gonna be on the pillar right in front of you!” one of the men said and that was when I saw her. Unconscious and beaten bloody. They started pulling me up on the pillar when one of them said: “I just wanted you to know that she really loves you because she came back for you. She got away but came back to save you. I just wanted you to know”. He sounded sad when he said it like he didn’t want to kill me like this but it didn’t really matter. He was still stringing me up to die right now.

I looked at her for a long time. Long after my arms started sleeping, long after everything went numb. She came back for me. She passed in and out of consciousness. Sometimes she looked at me and told me everything would be okay. It wouldn’t but it was nice of her to say it.

I think I passed out too because suddenly I fell. She was there and she pulled me up from the ground where I landed. She supported me and started walking. It was blackening for my eyes as I walked but I heard screaming and shooting behind us. We reached the water and she helped me up in a boat and I passed out again. At least I think I did because the next thing I knew, everything was quiet. I looked over the edge of the boat and saw it. Some woman was holding Abby under the water. I wanted to scream but nothing came out. It was the woman from Seattle. The one who killed Owen and Mel. Abby did everything she could to get up but the woman was too strong. Suddenly she let go. Abby shot up from the water gasping for air. I think maybe the woman was crying. She was just sitting in the water. That was when I saw it: clickers coming this way.

“Abby, look!” I said with all the strength I had left. Abby saw them. She took the woman’s arm and pulled her toward the boat I was in. When they both got in Abby tried to start the motor.

“My backpack!” the woman said with a panic in her voice. She looked at another boat at the beach.

“There is no time.” Abby said as she got the motor started, just as the first clickers got close. Luckily the boat got us away fast.

We got away. We were safe and alive, but the silence in the boat was weird and tense. Abby were just looking ahead at the water and sailing the boat while the woman was looking at her bloody hands. Bloody. She had lost to fingers and was bleeding from multiple wounds but the biggest was at her side.

“Abby, she is badly hurt” I said. I felt dizzy and I hated to think what she must be feeling, bleeding like that.

The woman looked at me in shock, almost as if she didn’t know I could speak. Abby didn’t say anything. She didn’t even look away from the water.

“Abby!” I said a bit harder. I think maybe I almost sounded mad. She looked at me now.

“She is hurt! We have to stop somewhere.” I felt myself getting weaker when I said it. I was probably bleeding too.

“You are right. I will find a place to stop so we can get fixed up. All of us.” Abby said looking at me and then the woman.

I felt sick now. Sick, weak and hurt.

“Lev, lie down. I will wake you when we are there” Abby said. I laid down.


	2. Those who worry

I don’t know how I ended up here, but I woke up on a couch. I looked around me and it looked like a vacation house on the beach. Abby was cleaning the woman’s wound in silence.

“Hey” I said and caught their attention.

“You are awake. How are you feeling?” Abby asked. I tried to sit up but everything still hurt. So, I just gave up.

“I am okay. How did we get away?” I asked. Abby looked at me and then at the woman.

“How did we escape the pillars?” I asked trying to clarify.

“Ellie freed us” Abby said while looking at the woman. I looked at Ellie and said;

“Really?”

“Yeah, she freed us so she could kill us herself” Abby said looking mostly tired.

“What?” I asked shocked.

“It wasn’t like that. I was never going to hurt you” Ellie said to me.

“That is why you threatened his life, of course.” Abby said to Ellie forgetting all about me for a second.

“I wasn’t going to hurt him. I was only ever going to kill you.” Ellie defended herself.

“That makes me feel a lot better” Abby said sarcastic.

“Honestly what did you expect after what you did?” Ellie said angrily. Abby had stopped cleaning Ellies wounds and Ellie tied it up with a bandage.

“What did Abby do?” I asked. I probably shouldn’t but it was clear that they hated each other.

“She killed Joel. Brutally.” Ellie said looking at Abby with hate in her eyes.

“Who is Joel?” I asked looking back and forth between Abby and Ellie.

“Joel was like a father to me.” Ellie sounded sad.

“That monster killed my actually father in cold blood.” Abby said with anger.

“Joel killed your father because your father was going to kill me” Ellie spit out angrily.

“He was trying to make a cure. He was going to save the world!” Abby defended.

“I was 14! I don’t think Joel cared why your father was killing me. Joel saved me in more ways than one and you took him from me!” Ellie said with tears and anger in her eyes.

Abby just looked at Ellie in shock before she said;

“If I could choose, I would have chosen to die for a cure.” Abby looked at Ellie like she was a coward.

“I chose to travel across the country to find the fireflies and I would die for the cure, but I didn’t get a choice. I didn’t get to choose to die and I didn’t choose to leave, I didn’t choose to kill your father and I didn’t choose to lose Joel. I didn’t have a choice.” Ellie was crying now.

“You killed my friends!” Abby finally said. I looked at them both differently now.

“I was just trying to kill you.” Ellie said. She almost sounded defeated.

“She didn’t know your friends when she killed them.” I tried to say and Abby looked at me in shock now.

“Are you defending her!?” she said.

“No! I am just trying to say... I don’t know… You lost your father and somehow ended up killing her father figure. She killed your friends and then you killed her friends.” I said.

“I didn’t…” Abby said.

“You shot Jesse in cold blood” Ellie said.

“Maybe I should have killed you when I had the chance.” Abby said angrily.

“Maybe you should!” Ellie said with hate in her voice.

“Come Lev, we are leaving” Abby said. she stood up and turned to leave.

I stood up too. It blackened before my eyes. Pain was shooting up my leg and I passed out for a second.

I was lying on the floor. Both Ellie and Abby were running to my side.

“Lev! Lev! What is happening?” Abby asked in panic. Ellie examined me.

“His leg” Ellie said and pulled up the leg of my trousers.

“Oh my god” Abby said. I didn’t know what was happening but it definitely hurt. I tried to say something but I was too dizzy and unfocused to speak. I could not even keep my eyes open.

“What are we going to do?” Abby asked. She didn’t sound angry anymore. She sounded scared.

“I think he needs antibiotics. We have to find some.” Ellie said.

“I’ll go.” Abby said decisively.

“Are you sure?” Ellie asked.

“Yeah. You are more hurt than me. I have a better chance of making it.” Abby said.

“Okay.” Ellie said.

“Just… take care of him. Please” Abby said.

“Of course,” was the last thing I heard before passing out completely.

When I woke up again it was dark outside.

“Abby” I said. Ellie was cleaning the wound on my leg.

“She is not back yet” Ellie said while working. I looked at her. She was thin and looked exhausted.

“What happened?” I asked. Ellie looked at me a second before answered.

“The wound on your leg is badly infected. Do you know what has happened?” She asked. I looked down at my leg and tried to remember but it took a second to recall the event.

“I think a dog bite me.” I finally said. She nodded.

“That would make sense. It is a bad flesh wound with a really bad infection. I cleaned out the maggots but maybe I still need to cut some flesh off. It looks like it has started to rot a little, but I don’t like doing it without Abby here.” I closed my eyes. A second ago I had tried to see the wound but I didn’t want to anymore. I just wanted it gone.

“Will I survive?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer.

“Of course, you will! And if she gets back with the antibiotic you will keep the leg too.” Ellie said and took my hand.

“Ellie…?” I asked and I looked up at her. She looked friendly. Maybe even sweet.

“Yeah?” she said.

“She didn’t mean to hurt you.” I said and looked her in the eyes.

“What?” She looked confused.

“Abby. She didn’t mean to hurt you when she killed your… Joel. She didn’t think about who she was hurting.” Ellie looked away but I needed to say this.

“She was hurting and she was just reacting. She wasn’t ready to forgive or forget.” She wasn’t looking at me anymore when she said:

“What makes you think that I am ready to forgive or forget” I looked at her, I really looked at her when I said:

“If you kill Abby, then she will be gone but I will be the one hurting. I don’t want to lose her.” She looked at me now and said slowly so I couldn’t miss it.

“I won’t kill Abby.”


	3. The Way to Walk

The next few days blended together. At some point Abby got back with the medicine. I think maybe they cut some of the infected flesh from my leg too. I kept falling in and out of consciousness. I was fighting a fever and I was delirious most of the time. Whenever I woke up, I tried to focus on what was happening around me but it was hard. Most of the time I couldn’t even open my eyes.

“Where are you gonna go?” I heard Ellie ask.

“We were looking for the fireflies.” Abby said. They were moving around me but I couldn’t focus on what they were doing.

“The fireflies? You are gonna make him a warrior for them?” Ellie said and she didn’t sound happy at all.

“He is a warrior” Abby said. She sounded determined.

“He is a kid” Ellie said. There was anger in her voice.

“A kid who have train as a warrior his whole life” Abby said. It sounded like Abby started to walk away.

“All the more reason…” Ellie said.

“All the more reason for what?” Abby said. She sounded farther away.

“All the more reason for showing him there is more to life than fighting.” Ellie said. I think she sounded sad.

I think I passed out again but when I woke up, I felt clearer in the head.

“Lev, you are awake!” It was Ellie who had first seen me. I tried to sit up. It was difficult but I was successful. My leg definitely still hurt but nothing like before. Abby and Ellie were sitting at the table and they were looking at a book together.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“See.” Ellie said taking the book to me. It was a book full of maps. Maps of America.

“We can’t stay here much longer. I have seen the Rattlers moving about again.” Abby said. She sounded very serious. Like she couldn’t relax.

“We are discussing where to go.” Ellie said she sounded irritated but calmer than Abby.

“What are the options?” I asked. The two women seemed to hesitate.

“I want to keep going. Find the Fireflies. Go to Santa Catalina.” Abby said. She looked at me like she hoped I would be on her side.

“But I can’t go to the fireflies. Last time they wanted to kill me.” Ellie said and she didn’t sound happy about it, at all.

“They have no reason to kill you now. They can’t make a cure without my father.” Abby said.

“You don’t think they will blame me for that?” Ellie said she sounded upset.

“Maybe.” Abby said unsure.

“I once believed in the fireflies too but I can’t go.” It sounded like the end of the discussion, but Abby still tried.

“Maybe we should go our separate ways then” Abby said.

“No. We can’t leave anyone behind.” I said.

“It is not like we are friends.” Abby tried but I wouldn’t listen.

“Yara wouldn’t do it. Owen wouldn’t do it.” I said.

“Maybe not, but she killed Owen.” Abby said angrily.

Ellie wasn’t looking at us anymore. She was looking away like it wasn’t her business whether we left her or not.

“What are you going to do? Leave her behind alone without weapons or supplies?” I said. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could the woman who saved me be so cold?

“I guess we could help her find supplies so she could go home again.” Abby tried to reason. That was when Ellie finally said something.

“So, you are going to find me supplies to go home, while also finding a way to Santa Catalina even though he can’t walk yet?” Ellie said. Abby looked at Ellie and then at me like she didn’t know what to say or do.

“Why do you gang up on me?” Abby said. She almost sounded like a child.

I didn’t know what to say to that so I just asked Ellie;

“Where is home?” Ellie smile. Just for a second but it was the first time I saw it.

“Jackson, Wyoming. It’s a small town, a real friendly place just trying to be civil in this world.” She said.

“Sounds nice” I smiled. I could hardly imagine living in peace.

“They would kill me.” Abby said.

“I have a farm close to Jackson. We could all live there together at least until Lev is completely recovered. It is self-sufficient. We got sheep, chickens and grain. I live there with Dina” Ellie said.

“It sounds nice. Just like we are supposed to live. Close to nature. Away from the old world.” I said. It sounded perfect.

“I don’t know” Abby sounded unsure.

“What about that woman, Dina, you don’t think she would kill us?” Abby tried to reason.

“She is the pregnant woman that you spared, so I don’t think so.” Ellie said.

I looked at Abby. She seemed deep in thought. I looked at Ellie, she seemed almost hopeful. She smiled at me.

“I don’t know, what do you think, Lev?” Abby finally asked me.

“I think it sounds perfect.” I said. I couldn’t help but feel that she, the prophet, had guided me here to this decision.

“Okay, I guess. Let us go to your farm outside Jackson.” Abby finally said.


	4. On the Way

The next few days was different. I was much better and clearer in the head even though I still couldn’t walk on my leg.

Abby spend a lot of time looking for supplies and more importantly a means of transportation because I could not walk. If we somehow ended up walking Ellie estimated that the trip would take around a month. The trip was more than 1000 miles. I really hoped that they would think of a solution that wasn’t walking. While Abby was away Ellie mostly just stayed with me. I think in parts because they wouldn’t leave me alone and in parts because she too was hurt. When Abby was here, they spend most of the time fighting.

At the moment Abby and Ellie was sitting at the table again studying the map.

“I think we should just follow Highway 15. And then follow it up to Salt Lake City.” Ellie said while showing the route on the map.

“No.” Abby said still studying the map.

“What?” Ellie looked at Abby.

“I said no.” Abby just said.

“Why” Ellie crossed her arms looking at Abby.

“We can’t go through Las Vegas.” Abby said

“Why?” Ellie said irritated.

“Because of the Raiders” Abby just said.

“What?” Ellie said. She seemed to be losing her patience.

“The Raiders is a group in Las Vegas. We won’t survive going through there.”

“Okay… then we will follow Highway 15 right until Las Vegas then we will go around and go back to The Highway again…” Ellie tried.

“No.” Abby said.

“Why?” Ellie just looked at Abby impatiently.

“We don’t want to be anywhere near Las Vegas.” Abby said.

“Oh, come on. How bad can it be?” Ellie said.

“The Rattlers is nothing compared to The Raiders. They have Gladiator fights, prisoners against infected, just for fun.”

“Fine, which way do you want to go?” Ellie asked. Abby looked at the map for a second before saying:

“Through here.” She pointed at the map. Ellie looked where she was pointing.

“You want to walk through Death Valley” Ellie said looking at Abby like she was stupid.

“Then what do you suggest?” Abby just said.

“What about we go up here, following the maintains before going across here well above Death Valley and far away from Las Vegas?” Ellie finally said after looking at the map a bit longer.

“I guess that could work.” Abby said.

“There is a road the whole way. We could still look for a car.” Ellie said.

“I will look again tomorrow. If I can’t find anything, I will come back with a wheelbarrow for Lev. We have to leave soon even if we have to walk.” Abby said. She sounded tired.

“I know” Ellie said.

I hadn’t said anything though the whole thing. I wanted to be helpful but this was my first-time outside Seattle. I didn’t know where the killer groups where or what Death Valley was. I just prayed that she would guide us and we would make it.

We had decided to leave tomorrow. Abby had failed in finding a working car or anything else useful, really. They had apparently been serious about the whole wheelbarrow thing and Abby had gone to the nearest riding school looking for one. I didn’t want to disappoint them, so I had been trying to walk, when Ellie wasn’t looking. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t working. I could stand on my good leg but whenever I tried to support my weight on the bad leg, the pain was intense and I felt like throwing up.

“Lev, Ellie, come out here” Abby yelled from outside the beach house. Ellie came and supported me so I could jump on my good leg outside to look.

Abby was standing beside two horses with the biggest smile I have ever seen on her.

“See what I have found.” Abby said. The horses had no saddle or bridle on. Just a simple neck rope.

“The school was burned down so all the gear was gone but these two lovely ladies was standing on the field outside. Bored and ready to ride.” Abby said.

“What is the plan?” Ellie asked. Abby looked at her and then me.

“I was thinking we could walk with a horse each. Lev on one of the horses and then maybe some bags on the other. We still have to walk but we don’t have to carry anything.” Abby said.

“So, no riding?” Ellie said sadly.

“No riding, unless you know how to ride a horse bareback.” Abby said.

“Unfortunately, I don’t” Ellie said with a sad smile.

We left the beach house the next day. I was glad that I was not in a wheelbarrow but sitting on a horse with a bad leg was painful too. We moved slowly just walking but we were no longer waiting.

We were on the way.


	5. A New Day

I called the horse I was riding for Alex. Ellie called the other one for Shay. She said he reminded her of a horse called Shimmer. I didn’t have my own horse back home but if I did surely, I would have called her Alex too. I liked Alex but I hated riding like this. My leg was hurting like crazy and we were still moving unbelievable slow. It was only the second day and I didn’t know how much more I could take of this. Honestly, I felt like crying. I needed a break.

“Abby?” I said.

Abby was the one pulling my horse. She didn’t stop. She just looked at me.

“Abby. I need a break,” she still didn’t stop, she just said:

“We can’t stop now,”

I could feel the tears in my eyes now.

“Please. My leg hurts too much,” I said.

“We can take a break,” Ellie said.

“If we take another break, we won’t reach our goal today,” Abby said.

“We can’t just let him suffer. We will make another goal,” Ellie said. Abby looked at me for real this time. I think she saw the pain on my face.

“Okay,” She said.

“We will take a break here,”

She stopped the horse and help me down. I sat down on the ground and the first tears ran down my cheek. Abby looked at my leg.

“You have bleed through the dressing,” Abby said. I looked down.

“I didn’t know,” I said. Ellie looked too, she seemed worried.

“We can’t keep going like this,” Ellie said.

“I know,” Abby just said.

Ellie had found the book with maps from the bags on Shay, and was now studying them again.

“There is a small town not far from here. We can go there and sleep tonight,” Ellie said, showing Abby the map.

“Okay, but I think we need a new plan. We can’t keep traveling like this, it will take too long,” Abby said. I just looked at her. I had never felt like a burden before. Not like I did now.

“I’m sorry,” I said with a small voice. Abby looked at me and saw the shame I felt.

“Hey!” She hugged me close.

“It is not your fault, okay? You are hurt and we need to take care of you right now, Okay? You need to let us do this for you,” Abby said while holding me.

“Okay,” I whispered into her shoulder.

“I am sorry for not stopping right when you asked me to,” Abby said as she let me go.

“Okay,” I said.

“We still need to travel to the town. Are you up for that, Lev?” Ellie asked me.

“Yeah, let us do it.” I tried to be brave.

It was still very painful to ride but just knowing that the trip was shorter made it easier to handle.

Not long after we reached the town. The first building we saw was a Bed and Breakfast.

“Perfect. I hope they have pancakes,” Ellie said ironically.

“It will probably be as good a place to sleep as any other,” Abby said while walking toward the building.

“Hopefully better. It has “bed” in the title,” Ellie said.

The horses were too big to get inside, so we tied them up and Abby helped me down. I was standing on my good leg getting ready to somehow jump inside.

“Do you want to ride on my back?” Abby asked looking at me.

“Are you sure? You are not as strong as you used to be,” I said unsure.

“All the more reason to train some more. Just think of yourself as my weight,” Abby said smiling.

“Okay, if you are sure.” I jumped on her back and she was careful with my leg when she caught me.

“Stay behind me,” Ellie said and walked inside. There were runners inside. Ellie found some scissor. She snuck up behind them one by one and killed them. As she killed the last one, the scissor broke.

“Lucky,” She said and tossed the broken scissor away. She started looking through drawers and cabinets.

“What are you doing?” I asked. She looked at me and smiled

“Just looking for anything useful. Maybe you two can look for a place to sleep,” Ellie said.

“Yeah, sure,” Abby said and started walking away toward the bedrooms.

The first room we checked had two beds. A double and a single bed.

“I guess this have to do,” Abby said and put me down on the bed.

“How are you doing?” Abby asked.

“Okay, I think. I don’t know why it won’t heal.” I said.

“Give it time,” Abby said.

Ellie walked through the door.

“Look at this. It is a tourist map of the town,” She said showing the map she found to Abby and me.

“Look here. It is an outdoor store. I think this was a hiking town,” Ellie said happily.

“That’s good. Maybe there is still something useful,” Abby said.

“Exactly. It looks like a big store too,” Ellie said.

Ellie and Abby looked happily at each other. They actually looked like friends for a moment.

I looked at the map again. The store was at the other end of the small town. There was not a lot of things marked on the map but almost right beside the bed and breakfast was something.

“What is this?” I said pointing at the map. Abby looked at where I pointed.

“I think it is a museum,” Abby said.

“What is that?” I asked looking at the mark on the map.

“A place full of old stuff. It’s usually boring,” Abby said.

“Boring? I love museums. Full of weird knowledge and cool stuff,” Ellie said.

“Why have a place full of old stuff when the whole world is full of those things,” I said. It didn’t make sense.

“No, not old stuff like before the outbreak but old stuff like really old. Hundreds of years old,” Abby said.

“Wow,” I said. It sounded incredible.

“I went to a museum full of dinosaurs bones on my 15th birthday,” Ellie said smiling.

“What are dinosaurs?” I asked. I felt kind of stupid for not knowing.

“Animals living millions of years ago,” Abby said.

“Why don’t I know any of this?” I asked looking at Ellie and Abby.

“Well, you grow up with the Seraphites. I guess they didn’t like looking back,” Abby said.

I nodded.

“I guess, but I want to learn this stuff now. Can we go to the museum?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. We really need to keep going.” Abby said.

“Please, Abby. Ellie, you said yourself, you love museums,” I tried to beg. I didn’t know why I wanted to go so badly. I guess I just needed something to look forward too.

“I don’t know. I guess we can find the time,” Ellie said.

“No, we really don’t have the time for that, I’m sorry,” Abby said.

“Abby. I know you want to keep moving but he is 13. He needs some fun too,” Ellie said.

“But it is a museum. It is not exactly fun,” Abby said but she sounded like she was giving in.

“Of cause it is. So, it’s decided. Tomorrow we will go to the museum and then the outdoor store,” Ellie said.

“Yes” I said smiling. I wanted to learn more about the world before this. I knew _she_ didn’t agree but she was from the old world and I needed to know too.

“Fine. What is the museum even about?” Abby asked. Ellie looked at the map.

“Um, let us see what it says. _“The first European settlers in America”_ That sounds cool, I guess,” Ellie said.

“Yeah, I guess. But first we really need sleep,” Abby said. She didn’t sound like she was looking forward to tomorrow, but I was.

Abby laid down on the double bed. I laid down beside her and Ellie laid down on the single bed.

Tomorrow was a new day. Hopefully a good day.


	6. The Treasure of the Town

I woke up excited. Today was the day I was going to my first museum. Abby was already up, of course. She was repacking some of the bags because we didn’t have room for a lot of stuff. On the table were some food and a handgun.

“Where did you get the gun?” I asked. She looked at me shortly before she continued her work.

“I found it in one of the other rooms. Somebody used it to commit suicide a long time ago.”

I sat up in the bed. My leg hurt a little but I had a good night sleep.

“When are we going to the museum?” I asked. She looked at me and said;

“Soon. Are you looking forward to it?”

“Yeah, a lot,” I said smiling.

“Good, I am glad, but first, eat.” She gave me some food and I started eating. A bit later Ellie got back from wherever she had been and they picked the bags and me up.

The horses where still waiting for us and I got on Alex again.

Soon we were in front of the museum. It had really big doors so it was no problem riding inside. One of the first things inside were a store selling mostly t-shirts and books.

“Hey, look! A cookbook.” Ellie said and picked up the book.

“Why would they sell a book like that here?” Abby asked.

“I think it is about what the settlers ate and stuff. It’s cool,” Ellie said and put the book into one of our bags.

We went further inside. The next thing we saw was a wax figure of a redheaded man with a big fake ax and a round shield.

“The first known European to have set foot on continental North America was the Viking Leif Erikson in the year 999.” Ellie read from the sign below the figure.

“I thought Christopher Columbus was the first one,” Abby said looking at the Viking.

“I guess we are learning something new then,” Ellie said smiling. We continued. There was a small model of a sail ship with the name “Mayflower” beneath it.

“The first European settlers traveled with ships to the new world. The trip could take anything from four weeks to six months,” Abby read. There was a picture of a man with bleeding gums and rotten teeth next to the ship.

“Scurvy was a big problem on the ships. It was only when lemons and oranges were found to prevent scurvy that this improved.” Ellie read.

“Why would they travel if they ended up like this?” I asked looking at the picture of the sick man.

“I think they wanted to see the world. Try something new. I can relate,” Ellie said. We kept moving. The next thing was a small model of a town with the name Jamestown beneath it.

“Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas,” Abby read aloud. She looked bored now.

“How much more of this do we need to look at?” she asked looking up at me.

“I think it is fun,” I said. Looking down at her from my horse.

“Yeah, we are not done yet,” Ellie said and moved on.

The next thing was a big wagon with a white canvas across the top. It was around 4 feet wide, maybe 9 to 11 feet long and with the canvas roof around 10 feet tall. The wagon was strapped to two real size plastic horses. The wagon had wheels made of wood with iron bands fastened to the outside of the rim.

“Prairie schooner was the vehicle of choice when traveling long-distance across America because it was smaller and lighter than the Conestoga Wagon. A typical prairie schooner like this replica weighed around 1,300 pounds.” Ellie read looking at the wagon. Abby was already walking ahead clearly bored.

“Do you think this wagon works?” I asked looking at Ellie.

“Yeah, I guess it does. It says here that it is a working replica so I guess it works, why?” Ellie asked looking at me now.

“It’s just… it must be nice traveling in a wagon like this,” I said looking at it.

“Yeah,” she just said. She seemed ready to move on to the next thing, but I had an idea.

“Do you think we can take it?” I asked. She turned her head and looked at me like I was a genius.

“Of course. Why didn’t I think of that,” Ellie said as she started moving up on the podium where the wagon was standing. She started unstrapping the plastic horses.

“Abby!” I yelled. Abby came running ready to fight.

“What?” she said when she saw I wasn’t in any danger.

“I think she need help,” I said pointing at Ellie who was now trying to move one of the big plastic horses.

“What are you doing?” Abby asked while jumping up on the podium.

“We are taking this wagon,” Ellie said.

“What?” Abby asked helping Ellie with the plastic horses.

“It was Lev’s Idea” Ellie said.

“Brilliant” Abby said. I felt proud in that moment.

Abby helped Ellie move the fake horses away and then started to get the big wooden wagon down from the podium. It seemed like hard work but after some time it got down safely. Then Abby helped me down from Alex and into the wagon while Ellie got our bags down from Shay. They then strapped both Alex and Shay to the wagon before we left the museum.

“I guess it was a good thing we went to the museum today,” Abby said as we rode in the wagon through the town.

“You never know what you can get from a museums visit,” Ellie said smiling. It was really nice traveling without hurting for once.

When we reached the outdoor store, it was completely boarded up.

“How do we get in?” I asked looking at the closed store.

“We have to find another way in. Maybe Ellie and I should go while you stay here,” Abby said.

“Okay” I said. Ellie and Abby got out of the wagon. Ellie had the gun that Abby found earlier. They walked into the store next door. It looked like a hairdresser from here.

Then I waited. I waited for some time without hearing anything, then I heard some gunshot and then some more. I started to get worried. I was never really worried when they left me because I knew they could take care of themselves and I could take care of myself normally, but right now I was mostly hurt and a little scared. I wanted to help them if they were in trouble but I couldn’t even walk, so I just waited. It was hard just waiting like this but I had no other choice. Suddenly one of the boards got pulled down. It revealed a broken window and Abby. Abby walked out to me and helped me down from the wagon. Then she helped me into the store. It was big and practically untouched.

“Wow” I said looking around at all the stuff. It looked like it had been a working store just yesterday.

“I think maybe they boarded the store up before outbreak day,” Abby said looking around.

“Yeah, with half the town hiding in the backrooms,” Ellie said. She didn’t sound all that happy.

“Why? What happened?” I asked looking at them.

“Just a ton of clickers and a bloater,” Abby said smiling like it was nothing.

“But luckily we found these,” Ellie said and showed me a hunting rifle. Abby was holding one too.

“I think we all need some new clothes while we are here,” Abby said. I looked at all of us. Our clothes were worn out with a lot of dirt and bloodstains on it.

“Lev, while you are at it, chose a hiking bag and pick out some extra clothes,” Abby said. She almost sounded like a mother, but I did as she said. I picked a bag and then went on to choose some clothes. I picked a new pair of pants and put another pair in the bag, then I moved on to underwear, socks and t-shirts. Lastly, I picked a red flannel shirt and put some other shirts, sweaters and hoodies in my bag.

“Hey Lev, remember we are going to Wyoming. It gets cold there in the winter, you need some gloves and a jacket too,” Abby said, so I picked some warmer clothes too.

Beside clothes Ellie picked out some kitchen equipment, a portable water tank, some camping solar lamps and a compass. In the meantime, Abby found sleeping bags and sleeping pads for all of us, some blankets and a first aid kit.

We put the gear out into the wagon before each of us chose a knife. Then Abby picked up some axes and rope, while Ellie looked for more rounds for the hunting rifles.

“I think we are all done here? Did we miss anything,” Abby said. I looked around the store. There was still a lot of good stuff left.

“What is that over there?” I asked. Ellie went to look where I pointed.

“I think it is camping food, like dried food,” She said and picked some of it up.

“Is it still good?” Abby asked and walked over there too.

“I think so,” Ellie said looking at me and Abby in awe.

“Well, let us just take all of it,” Abby said. Ellie put all of it in a big bag because there was a lot of it. Then we left the store and got in to the wagon.

When we left the town, the mood was high. Ellie and Abby was not even fighting, they both seemed happy. I think a part of it was because nobody were walking and we were moving faster than ever. I was happy too and my leg wasn’t hurting when traveling like this.


	7. The New Home

I was lying on my back in the wagon. I wasn’t doing anything. I was just listening. Listening to the sound of horseshoes against asphalt mixed with the wagon’s wooden wheels in motion. It was relaxing. It was the most at peace I remember ever being. Abby was steering the wagon while Ellie alternated between commenting on what Abby was doing wrong and looking at the map. It almost felt like a family, always fighting but not really hating each other, or at least I hoped that was true.

It was a different kind of trip with the wagon. Now we didn’t have to stop in different towns to sleep. We really only had to stop when the horses needed food, or rest, but sometimes we would stop to hunt too. We didn’t really touch the dried food we found. Somehow, we had agreed that it should only be used in an emergency. It was a nice way to travel. The extra time off my feet and off the horse gave my leg some time to finally recover. But it did get a little bit boring. At some point I started looking for something to do. I found a big piece of wood and started working with my knife to make a new bow.

“Hey, what are you working on?” Abby asked me. Ellie was steering the wagon right now, to give Abby a break. I looked at my work so far. I could clearly see the unfinished bow in the piece of wood but maybe if you didn’t know it was there it wasn’t as obvious.

“A new bow.” I said looking up at her. She looked impressed.

“You know how to make a bow?” She asked while she sat down next to me.

“Yeah, every archer needs to know how to make a bow.” I said. I really didn’t know how other people survived. They all needed clothes, food and weapons but they didn’t even know how to make any of these things. They were so dependent on finding what the old world had left behind. I didn’t get it.

“I look forward to seeing it finished, but what do you plan to do regarding the string?” Abby said.

I looked at my work so far before answering.

“I plan on finding some flax and then I will use the fibers to make a string. I also need to find some beeswax. The wax makes the string flexible and strong.” I said.

“You really do know a lot about this?” Abby said.

“I have made a lot of bows but it’s the first time I am making one alone.” I said looking at the bow again.

“Well, just say the word and I will help you any way I can.” Abby said smiling.

“Thank you,” I said and I really meant it.

I was really thankful for Abby and thankful that Ellie spared her life. I didn’t know what I would do without her. I think I would have been devastated and maybe, just maybe I would have killed Ellie as revenge. I was so happy that none of that had to happen.

“Can I look at your leg?” Abby asked me.

“Yeah, of course.” I said and showed her my bad leg.

“It looks a lot better” Abby said looking at it.

“Yeah, I think it just needed some rest.” I said looking at my leg.

“I am sorry that I made you ride that horse,” Abby said looking guilty.

“No, don’t be. I know we needed to get away from there. We are safer now,” I said.

“Yeah, I know,” she looked at Ellie. I couldn’t read Abby’s face but I think she was feeling mixed feelings. I think she was grateful that Ellie decided to take us with her but maybe Abby still hated Ellie a little. I know she hated everything Ellie had done. At the same time, I think that Ellie felt the same about Abby. A mix of gratitude and hate.

The next couple of days went fairly quickly. At some point I found some flax. Abby was choked to see what flax looked like because it just looked like an ordinary road flower. A few days later Abby found some bees and went looking for the beeswax. I think Ellie knew that we were working on a project but she let us have this thing together, just me and Abby. With the flax and beeswax, I could twist my string. With the bow done I needed to work on the arrows.

As the days went on it started to get colder. We had moved a lot faster then planned after we got the wagon and after maybe 10 days Ellie said that we would arrive at the farm soon. I was looking forward to seeing our new home but I quickly learned that soon didn’t mean a couple of hours but a couple of days.

Ellie seemed nervous when we got closer. She started to make excuses to stop. The horses needed a break, we needed to hunt, we needed more water in our water tank. We needed this and that. I don’t know what she was nervous about, but she was clearly nervous about something.

But it didn’t help her. We still arrived at the farm. We arrived before the frost, because we had moved faster than planned, and that was something Abby was really happy about. She kept saying that she was worried about riding the wagon in the freezing cold.

The farm was white and beautiful with fields all the way around it.

“Why are the fields not harvested?” Ellie asked. She looked very worried. Abby helped me down from the wagon and we walked to the house. I walked myself even though it was hard.

“Dina?” Ellie yelled when we got inside the house. The house was deserted.

“Dina?” she kept searching the house. Room after Room. She almost looked desperate. Abby and I just looked at her.

“They left,” she said with sadness in her voice.

“Yeah, it looks like it,” Abby said. I felt sympathy for Ellie, she just looked so sad.

“I think the animals are gone too, but we still have time to harvest before it gets too cold,” Ellie said. Abby nodded.

“Lev, sit down, we will get our stuff inside first,” Abby said, looking at me and I sat down.


	8. The Guitar

We got the wagon and the horses into the barn. Ellie kept talking about sheep and when they had sheep here and how she and J.J. got them safely into the barn. I think J.J. was the Asian man that Abby killed in Seattle. I think maybe that J.J. was Ellies boyfriend. I don’t know how Ellie will ever really forgive Abby for killing her father and boyfriend, but then Ellie killed Owen and Mel. I don’t know how this will be okay again but I really hope it will.

Ellie gave us a tour of the house. The house had three bedrooms. Ellie chose the one upstairs with the double bed, she said it would be weird sleeping anywhere else. I chose the other room upstairs even though it didn’t have a bed yet, Ellie assured me we would get me one. That left one room, the one downstairs. It had a fireplace and a sofa. I think Abby liked it and I knew she liked sleeping downstairs where she could protect us from whatever could come into the house.

We spend the next two days trying to harvest the corn. I had tried it before as a kid, Ellie seemed to know the basic of what she was doing too but Abby had clearly never lived on a farm. In the breaks I trained with my new bow. I showed Abby some of my tricks and I think she was impressed.

I really liked helping and training again and therefore I tried to hide it, but it started to hurt my leg again with all the walking around I did.

The time where I most felt the pain in my leg was when I tried to sleep. There was something about lying still and just feeling everything that made it impossible to ignore.

The next day I tried to take it a bit easier. I spend the first part of the day looking around my new room. There were a lot of paintings and stuff like that. It was pictures of a woman, and a child. I liked them. Then I saw a guitar case. I knew what a guitar was but I had never touched one.

I approached it slowly. I felt like it was something I shouldn’t do. Like it was somehow forbidden. I still opened it. Inside was a beautiful guitar with a butterfly on the neck. On top of the guitar was a little box. It looked like a little metal box that someone had tried to hide here inside the guitar case on top of the guitar.

“Is that a guitar? Cool?” Abby said. I had not even noticed that she had come in here.

“Is it cool?” I asked looking at her.

“Totally. Do you know how to play?” she asked me.

“No.” I said looking at the at the instrument.

“Me neither. Hey what is that?” She said pointing at the small metal box on top of the guitar.

“I don’t know.” I said looking at it too.

“Let us open it” Abby said. I hesitated. It felt private like it wasn’t our place to open it.

“What are you afraid of.” She said and I took the box in my hands and slowly opened it.

Inside was three things. A bracelet with a metal hand and some blue beads, a broken watch and a firefly necklace.

“Is that a firefly pendant?” Abby asked taking the necklace from the box. I looked at it too. It had the name “Riley Abel” on it and the number “000129”.

“Why do you think she has this?” She asked.

“What do you mean? Ellie? Maybe she was a firefly” I said.

“She wasn’t. This is clearly not her name and she is pretty much the number one firefly killer. Do you think this is like a trophy box for like important kills?” Abby wondered.

“She is not some crazy serial killer.” I said taking the necklace back from Abby.

“What are you looking at?” Ellie suddenly asked from the door.

“Nothing!” I said quickly putting the necklace back in the box.

“We are looking at your trophy box” Abby said challenging.

“My what?” Ellie asked walking closer to us. When she saw the opened box, she paled.

“Be careful” she said talking the box from me and made sure everything was still inside before closing it.

“So? is it a crazy serial killer trophy box?” Abby asked. I didn’t think she was serious but to be honest I wasn’t sure.

“What? no! It is stuff from people I have loved, okay?” Ellie said holding the box close.

“Why is it inside the guitar case?” I asked.

“Because… because the guitar was too big to be inside the box where it belonged,” Ellie said. She sounded sad.

“Well, maybe this stuff should be inside your room and not in Lev’s” Abby finally said.

“Yeah, I think you are right.” She took the box and the guitar and left my room.

I don’t really know why but it almost felt empty without it. Like this room was important because of the memories inside it. I didn’t want to be in my room right now without it so I just said;

“I think I should practice a bit with my bow now” I left Abby and went outside.

When I was outside, I started shooting a bit aggressive with my bow. I was feeling angry but mostly just sad. I had lost mother and Yara but I had nothing to remember them by. I had nothing from my family or my religion or anything from my old life. I knew I should focus on my new life but I missed them.

“Lev?” Ellie said from the house. I stopped shooting my bow. She came out to me.

“So, it’s here you are hiding. Wow, you are really good.” Ellie said when she saw me and were my arrows had landed.

“Thanks” I said.

“Maybe I should take you hunting someday.” Ellie said smiling.

“I would like that” I smiled.

“Abby said that you would like to learn how to play the guitar.” Ellie said still smiling.

“Yeah.” I just said. I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted but maybe.

“I can show you a little right now” she said while she showed me back towards the house.

When we got inside the living room, I saw the guitar on the couch. I put down my bow and went to the couch. Ellie showed me how to hold the guitar, how to hold and move my fingers on the string and soon I was playing some simple chords. Am, D, G, C…

“Ellie.” Abby said.

“If you want those rabbit traps out today you probably need to do it now.” Abby said.

“Oh right.” Ellie said standing up.

“Lev, are you okay practicing a bit on your own?” Ellie said me.

“Yeah of course.” I said smiling. Ellie nodded and left.

“Lev, I am right outside, okay?” Abby said. I nodded and she left too.

I played a bit. I like the feeling of the strings against my fingers. I felt calm, really calm finally. This was what I needed in my life.

“Put that guitar down, Slowly!” A woman said somewhere behind me and then I heard a gun click telling me she probably was pointing a loaded gun against my head.

_To be continued_


	9. The Woman

“Put that guitar down, Slowly!” A woman said somewhere behind me and then I heard a gun click telling me she probably was pointing a loaded gun against my head. I hesitated looking around. My bow was leaning against the wall. It was too far away to get. Why was I so careless?

“Put the guitar down! If anything happens to it, I will shoot!” She said behind me. I carefully put the guitar down on the ground.

“Now slowly stand up with your hands up.” She said. I stood up and put my hands up.

“Turn around slowly!” She said. I slowly turned. She looked familiar somehow. She was a beautiful woman with black hair and she looked friendly, at least she would have if she wasn’t aiming a gun at my face.

“Now tell me what you are doing here.” She said.

“Don’t tell her anything!” Abby said. She was standing at the door with a hunting rifle aimed at the woman.

“Abby?” The woman said. She seemed shocked to see Abby.

“Put the gun down!” Abby said with the hunting rifle still aimed at the woman.

“Why? Are you here to finish the job? Well too bad Ellie is not home!” The woman said still aiming her gun at me. I looked over my shoulder at my bow. Maybe if Abby distracted her enough, I could get to it.

“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t even know you.” Abby said. That was when it clicked for me.

“She is the woman from the paintings upstairs,” I said looking at her more closely than before.

“I don’t care! PUT THE GUN DOWN!” Abby almost screamed. That was when I noticed that Abby looked scared. She was scared because the gun was aimed at me.

“Put the gun down,” Ellie said. She was standing at the door too now with her hands up trying to get them both to calm down.

“Ellie! You alive,” The woman said. She seemed shocked again and kept looking from Abby to Ellie like she expected them to kill each other.

“Yeah, but Dina maybe put your gun down” Ellie said slowly. The woman, Dina finally lowered her gun.

“What is happening here?” Dina asked looking at us all. Abby still had her rifle aimed at her.

“Nothing! We just…” Ellie tried to explain.

“We? You are all here together?!” Dina asked looking at Abby.

“Well, I tried to kill her but I couldn’t and then… I don’t know. Something changed.” Ellie said looking at Abby.

“Oh,” Dina just said looking down. I think maybe Dina had tears in her eyes.

“Yeah, I am not sure how we got here but…” Ellie started to explain.

“No, no, I get it. I mean I hadn’t seen it coming. I knew you were obsessed with her but I just thought that it was revenge you were after. Maybe it was at first… but of course look at her,” Dina said with tears running down her cheeks now.

“What?” Ellie seemed confused.

“So, when we got home here, you and me, you couldn’t forget her and her muscles, right?” Dina said. She seemed both angry and sad.

“No! It is nothing like that!” I think Ellie finally understood what she was talking about. I still didn’t.

“Oh, yeah? Who wouldn’t want those arms! She could probably fuck you without ever putting you down!”

“STOP!” both Ellie and Abby said at the same time.

“Please stop, there are children present, plus I’m straight,” Abby said finally lowering her rifle.

“Right,” Dina just said. She didn’t look happy at all.

“Dina, it is nothing like that, okay? Abby and I are not together! I tried to kill her but couldn’t then after that we were both hurt, all of us where badly physical hurt and we had no weapons. We all had to work together to survive. That’s it, okay?” Ellie said slowly moving closer to Dina.

“Okay? Nothing else, okay?” Ellie said and then she hugged the woman.

“I thought you were dead,” Dina said quietly.

“I know, I’m sorry I left,” Ellie said still hugging her.

“I missed you” Dina said.

“I missed you too” Ellie said and then they kissed. I looked away. They were kissing, two women!

“Are you okay, Lev?” Abby asked me, looking at me closely.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I assured her.

“What are you doing here?” Ellie asked Dina when they finally stopped kissing.

“I mostly came for the guitar,” she said looking at me.

“I am sorry if I scared you,” she said to me but Abby didn’t look impressed.

“Why do you need the guitar, you don’t even play,” Ellie asked.

“Yeah, I just wanted something that reminded me of you before leaving. I was going to give it to J.J. when he got older,” she said looking at Ellie.

“Before leaving? Where are you going?” Ellie asked while guiding Dina to the table. Me and Abby followed and we all sat down.

“I am part of a small group leaving Jackson,” Dina said.

“Why?” Ellie asked.

“Jackson is changing because of Tommy,” Dina said seriously.

“What? Why?” Ellie looked concerned now.

“He is getting paranoid. He doesn’t trust anyone anymore. We are ordered to kill strangers on sight now. They even set traps for them,” Dina shakes her head.

“Why?” Ellie whispers.

“He is afraid of her people taking revenge for what we did in Seattle. He thinks every stranger is out to kill him,” Dina said looking at Abby.

“That’s crazy,” Ellie said.

“Yeah, but it is more than that. He doesn’t trust people inside Jackson either. He thinks that Abby had inside help and that is how they found Joel in the first place,” Dina said.

“I didn’t” Abby said.

“I know, but he makes us spy on each other and interrogates everyone he thinks is suspicious.”

“What do Maria think?” Ellie asked.

“She thinks he has finally lost it, but people are following him because they are scared. He told them horror stories of Seattle and how Abby killed Jesse in cold blood. Jesse’s parents believe him,” Dina said.

“So, you left?” Ellie asked.

“Yeah, I left with a small group. We snuck out. Tommy probably thinks I'm working with Abby now,” Dina looked at Abby again and said;

“and I guess that is somehow true.”

“What about J.J.? Did you leave him behind?” Ellie asked.

“What? Of course not! He is hiding with the group right now.” Dina said.

“And Maria? What about her?” Ellie asked.

“I tried to get her to come but she wanted to stay and save Jackson. Make it what it was again” Dina said.

“Where are you going?” Abby asked.

“I am not telling you?” Dina spat.

“Dina, she is not our enemy. Not anymore,” Ellie said.

“I still don’t get why,” Dina said but she finally took a deep breath and said;

“We are not sure where we are going yet, but far away from here,”

“Maybe you could all stay here while making a plan. Maybe we could come, and I could help you all and make up for the part I had in all this,” Abby said.

“I am afraid Tommy will find us here, he will definitely shoot Abby on sight,” Dina said.

“We will keep guard and leave as soon as we got a plan,” Ellie proposed.

“you support this?” Dina asked looking at Ellie.

“Yeah, I want to see J.J. and be a part of his and your life, but I can’t leave Lev or Abby behind anymore either. I guess I know them too well now. So yeah, I think we should all stay together.” Ellie said.

“Well, I guess, I'm on board too then. I will go and ask the group what they think. They have to agree too, because it is a risk staying this close to Jackson with her” Dina said looking at Abby. She stood up and started to walk away.

“I will be back tomorrow with an answer.” She said before leaving.

Ellie sat for a moment, just looking at where Dina had disappeared out the door, before standing up and walking away herself.

“Who was that woman?” I asked.

“I think it was Ellie’s girlfriend” Abby said.

“What that the woman who was pregnant in Seattle?” I asked.

“I think so, I knew she seemed familiar,” Abby said.

“She seemed nice” I said.

“Yeah, let us hope the rest of her group is nice as well,” Abby said standing up.

“Listen, it is getting late. Go upstairs and get some rest. I will find Ellie and make sure she is all right, okay?” Abby said.

“Okay,” I said and walked upstairs.


	10. The Crew

I woke when the sun hit my face. I heard voices downstairs. A lot of voices. I looked around for my bow. It was nowhere to be found, because I left it against the wall downstairs, stupid! Careless and Stupid.

I moved out from my room and slowly walked down the stairs. In the living room were a lot of people. Three men around Abby’s age were talking in a circle. An older woman and an older man, maybe around 40 or 50 years old, was sitting at the table talking. That woman Dina from yesterday and Ellie was talking with another woman around their age. A girl my age was playing with a baby on the floor while Abby was standing alone in a corner looking very uncomfortable. Ellie was the first to spot me on the stairs and said;

“Gather around, we are all here now.” I walked down stairs and Abby quickly walked over to me.

“Thank god, you are up now. I felt very alone,” Abby said to me.

We gathered around the table and Dina started talking while holding the baby in her lap. 

“Thank you all for trusting me. I know it is weird being here with Abby, but Ellie assured me that she is not the monster Tommy says,” Dina started and Abby looked more uncomfortable then ever.

“We are here to make a final plan on where to go and to ask if Ellie, Abby and Lev want to come too,” Dina said and looked to them all. It was awkward because nobody said anything after that. Not before Ellie asked;

“Maybe we should say our names and age first?”

“yeah, sure let’s do that. I go first. My name is Dina and I am 20 and this is J.J and he is almost one” Dina said before looking at the young woman beside her silently telling her to continue. The woman had brown hair and brown eyes.

“My name is Emily and I am 25.” She said before looking to the older man beside her.

“yeah, hi everyone, my name is Matthew and I just turned 50” he said looking at me.

“My name is Lev and I am 13” I said looking at Abby beside me.

“I think you all know me. I am Abby and I am 20.” Abby said not comfortable at all. Abby looked down and the older woman beside her hesitated a second before saying.

“Hi, my name is Camilla, I am 44 and this is my daughter.” She looked at the young blond girl beside her.

“My name is Ida and I am 15 and this idiot is my older brother,” the girl said looking at the man beside her. The young man was muscular and blond.

“My name is Lukas and I am 22 and these two are my best friends,” he said looking at the two young men beside him. The first one said;

“Hi, I am James and I am 25 and this is Aiden,” He looked at the other young man.

“Yeah, I’m Aiden and I am 23” He looked to Ellie who was the last one.

“And I think I am the only one who knows everyone here. I am Ellie and I am 19.”

Dina smiled at Ellie and said;

“Now that we got that out of the way we should probably talk about where we are going. We have talked about traveling to Denmark.”

The silent was complete.

“Denmark? Like Europe, Denmark? Why?” Ellie asked looking confused.

“It was my idea” The older woman named Camilla said. Ellie looked at her inquiring before asking;

“Is there a reason?”

“Yeah, I want to go home. I was an exchange student back in 2013. I was only supposed to be in the states for 6 months but then the outbreak happened. Luckily, I became a part of Jackson early on and I found my husband. But now with him gone and Jackson going crazy, I dream of traveling home with my children,” she said looking at the girl, Ida and the man, Lukas.

“I want to come because when I was young, I dreamed about traveling but I never had the money or the time before the outbreak,” the older man, Matthew, said.

“We want to live and be on an adventure, and traveling with our best friend Lukas seems like the way to do it,” the man Aiden said looking at his friends James and Emily.

“And I need to get far away from here and Tommy. I want to start a new life with J.J.” Dina said looking at the baby in her arms.

“So, what do you say? Do you want to come?” the man Lukas asked looking at me, Abby and Ellie.

“I think it is completely crazy to travel across the world but I will go if Lev want to go,” Abby said looking at me.

“I… I think I want to go” I said hesitant.

“But you don’t like the ocean,” Abby said confused.

“I know, but I think I want to see more of this world, and I know the prophet will guide me,” I said looking at Abby.

“Okay,” she said smiling at me.

“What about you, Ellie?” Lukas asked. Ellie was silent a few seconds before saying.

“People traveled around the world for hundreds of years. People traveled to the moon at one point. So why shouldn’t we travel to Europe? Why not?” She almost laughed before looking at Dina who smiled at her.

“If Dina want me to come and become a part of her new life, then I will go too,” Ellie finally said only looking at Dina like they were alone in the room.

“Of course, I want you to come, stupid,” Dina said smiling. 

The next few hours were spend talking about how to do it and what to bring. It felt crazy. A few months ago, I had never left Seattle and now I was going to Europe. The others had traveled here on horses and bicycles only bringing what they could on those, so when Ellie told them about our wagon their faces light up. It was a game changer. Ellie told them about the corn we had harvested and the dry food we had found in the outdoor store. Abby talked a bit about scurvy and how to avoid it. The woman Camilla was really the only one who had ever sailed before. She talked about finding a sailboat because we could never find enough fuel for the whole trip. We talked about traveling to Virginia wherever that was and then sailing from there. Matthew knew about some big boats in Newport News but he didn’t know if there were a big enough sailboat but it was the best lead we had.

We had a nice dinner and before finding a place for everyone to sleep. The girl Ida ended up sleeping in my room. Tomorrow was the day where we planned to leave for good. I was excited but nervous.


	11. The Night

I woke up with a shock from a loud noise from something falling down. Then there were voices and then a gun shot and some shouting. It was still dark outside probably still night. Ida was awake now too but she just seemed scared like she never really had to deal with the real world. In this moment I felt like she was younger than me.

I got my bow that I luckily had remembered to take upstairs with me yesterday. I quietly moved from my room out in the upstairs hallway towards the stairs.

“Stay behind me” I whispered when Ida started to move too. When I got to the stairs, I hesitated a second before I started to move down. Ida just sneaked past the stairs, not going down, and moved into the main bedroom upstairs. The one Ellie always slept in. She probably felt safer hiding there.

I just kept moving downstairs. I stopped before getting all the way down. I couldn’t see Abby, Dina, J.J. or Ellie but almost everyone else where in the living room. They all had their hands up except James who was lying on the floor bleeding from a wound in the head. It looked like a wound from a blunt weapon probably from being pistol-whipped. In the middle of the room was Tommy holding a pistol. Behind him were two men that I didn’t know, both holding rifles. They mostly looked hesitant probably because the people they were hunting and hurting right now were from their own town.

“I just want to know why you all left Jackson in the middle of the night a few days ago,” Tommy asked looking angry.

“We just needed to leave,” Camilla tried to argue. She probably didn’t want to tell him where they were going but without the whole trying to get home to Denmark part of the story it didn’t seem that convincing.

“Why Camilla? What are you all hiding?” Tommy asked.

“Leave them be!” Dina said while walking down the stairs past me. Tommy looked up at her clearly ready to say something but then he stopped. Dina was standing in front of me now, so I couldn’t really see his face.

“Is that a scar behind you?” Tommy asked. I froze. I hadn’t heard that term since Seattle.

“You know, I met a few of those crazy psychopaths in Seattle and I can recognize those scars anywhere. Get down here scar,” Tommy said.

“He is not a part of this,” Dina tried to say but Tommy just aimed his gun at her and said;

“Move out of the way, Dina, or I will shoot. Scar get down here!” I moved down the stairs slowly.

“Throw the bow away,” he said. I hesitated of course but with the gun aimed at Dina and the two men’s rifles aimed at me I really didn’t have a choice. I threw the bow away from me.

“Now get your hands on your head and turn your back to me,” he said. He sounded cold. I just did as he asked.

“Get on your knees,” he said, and I did it. I felt the tip of his gun on the back of my head but nobody did anything.

“You know, I got to kill a lot of scars in Seattle. I don’t mind killing another, unless you tell me what you are doing here,” He said coldly. I closed my eyes and waited. 

The gun shot was loud. I felt the ringing in my ears and the warm blood on my skin. I waited but I was still here and I didn’t feel any pain. Then I realized that the scream I was hearing wasn’t mine.

Someone grabbed me and pulled me up from the floor and soon I was in the arms of Dina. I looked back at Tommy. He was grabbing his bleeding hand and the pistol was on the floor in a pool of blood. Abby slowly walked into the room from her bedroom holding a smoking gun.

“Don’t you ever point a gun at him! Do you hear me!” she all but screamed.

“Abby! I knew you all were helping her!” Tommy said clearly in pain.

“Is that Abby? She is young,” one of the men with a rifle said. 

“What are you waiting for? Kill her!” Tommy screamed, but before any of the men had a chance to shoot Abby, Ellie came running down the stairs.

“No! Stop! Don’t shoot!” Ellie screamed.

“You are alive?” Tommy said clearly shocked, just looking at Ellie like he had seen a ghost.

“Yeah, what are you doing here, Tommy?” Ellie said while the two men finally lowered their rifles.

“I am killing anyone who ever helped her. Revenging Joel and you,” Tommy said and he sounded proud.

“Me? But I am not dead,” Ellie just said, walking in front of Abby shielding her.

“Not thanks to her!” He screamed.

“Yes, thanks to her,” Ellie said sounding so calm.

“What? You! You are a part of this? You, of all people, are _friends_ with her?!” He said.

“I…” Ellie hesitated, looking over her shoulder at Abby.

“She is not my enemy. Not anymore,” Ellie said calmly.

“Traitor! After everything Joel did for you! After he died for your secret!” Tommy screamed. Ellie paled.

“What secret?” Lukas asked quietly.

“Oh, I see. Your new friends don’t know this?” Tommy said.

“Tommy” Ellie almost plead.

“No, I think they should know who they are friends with. Ellie is…” Tommy started to say but Dina interrupt him.

“Stop, please,” Dina said loudly. Tommy didn’t care.

“Ellie is immune. That is why the fireflies wanted her, why Joel killed them and why Abby killed Joel. So, in a way, you are the reason Joel is gone. Maybe I should kill you?” He sounded crazy like he had finally lost it completely.

I don’t know who started shooting first, but suddenly everything was moving very fast. Dina pulled me away to shield me and suddenly, just like that, all the shooting stopped again. Abby came running.

“He ran, but we need to leave now, he will be back probably with more people,” She said.

“Quickly everyone! Gather everything we talked about yesterday. Everything we need and then we are gone,” Dina said. I got my bow, arrow, knife and sleeping bag. Everyone was moving around. Ida was crying silently with J.J. in her arms.

Before I knew it, I was in the wagon with a lot of stuff. Ida were here too with J.J. and Aiden too, because he had gotten shot in the arm during the fight. Ellie was the one steering the wagon while everyone else were on horses or bicycles. And just like that, we were running away in the middle of the night.


	12. The High School

We didn’t stop. We didn’t stop when it was too dark to see. We didn’t stop when the sun first came up. We didn’t stop when it was burning high on the sky. We didn’t stop. We didn’t dare.

We had four horses besides Alex and Shay, who were in front of the wagon. Dina and Matthew were each riding one. Camilla and Emily were sharing one and Abby was on the last one. They were all looking tired as the day went one. In the wagon it was a bit different. Ellie was just silent almost like she was in shock because of what Tommy did and said. Aiden was whimpering holding a piece of cloth around his bleeding arm. J.J. was just fussing. His was a small, confused and scared child and Ida had trouble keeping him still. But nobody had it worse than the boys on the bikes. They were both clearly tired and sweating from riding the bike all night and day but James had it worst. He was all pale and sickly looking. The blood on his face and in his hair from being pistol-whipped was dark and dried. He needed to lie down. We needed to stop but nobody dared to say it.

The crash woke us all up from our trance. Everybody stopped and looked back. James was on the ground and his bike were somewhere behind him.

“What happened?” Dina asked riding her horse back to see what happened. James looked disoriented.

“I don’t know,” he whispered trying to get up again.

“I think he hit those sharp rocks. His tires are destroyed.” Lukas said looking down at James as he got up. James was bleeding from cuts on his hands and knees from falling down on the.

“Okay, but we can’t stop here. Lukas help James get his stuff from his bike inside the wagon.” Dina said looking around clearly thinking.

“What about James?” Lukas said while moving James’ stuff.

“Get him inside the wagon too” she just said.

“There is no room for another person” Ida said while trying to calm J.J. down.

“Okay. Camilla can you steer the wagon?” Dina asked looking around.

“Sure,” Camilla said getting down from her horse, while Ellie got down from the wagon.

“What about me?” Ellie asked.

“You will sit with J.J. while Ida, you will ride with Emily and Lev will ride with Abby. James get into the wagon and we will keep going.” Dina said. We all moved around and I got up on Abby’s horse. When everyone got to their new place, we just kept moving

We moved like that for a few more hours without stopping.

“We need to find a place to stop before it gets dark,” Matthew said quietly.

“Tommy is probably right on our tail with half of Jackson. He will kill us, or at least Abby.” Dina said.

“But we traveled for hours, ma’am. He would have to get back to Jackson, get backup and then catch up with us, that is if he can find us first.” Matthew said sounding like an old cowboy.

“I know” Dina said.

“He is right, Dina, we need to rest.” Abby said.

“I know” Dina said again. She looked tired but she clearly tried to think.

“Okay, we will look for a place to stop, but it needs to hide us and the horses … and the wagon. We need to hide for the night.” She said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Matthew just said.

We kept moving but the hope that we soon would get a break kept us going a little bit longer.

We ended up in a small town as it started to get dark. We found a high school with a sport hall.

“Lukas try the big doors” Dina said. The plan was clear, we could hide the wagon inside for the night. Lukas tried to get the doors open but they were locked and worse there were sound of infected somewhere inside.

“We need to clear the school. We don’t have time to find another place” Abby said.

“Right, let us send in Ellie, she is immune,” James said from the wagon.

“I know you hit your head, idiot, but they can still kill me,” Ellie said.

“But not in as many ways as they can kill us, right?” James said.

“Fine, I’ll go.” Ellie said giving J.J. to Dina. she seemed annoyed at James

“Not alone! Lukas go with her.” Dina said.

“I am not going in there!” Lukas said loudly.

“I’ll go” Abby said jumping down from our horse.

“Me too” I said jumping down too.

“Abby can go, but not you, Lev,” Dina said.

“Why?” I asked. I didn’t understand why she would say that.

“You are just a kid” She said.

“He is better with a bow then all of us,” Ellie said. I liked her more every day.

“Ellie, he is a kid,” Dina said looking at Ellie like she was crazy.

“A kid that knows what he is doing,” Ellie said

“I don’t know,” Dina said unsure.

“I will go too; keep him safe,” Emily said.

“Okay, but be careful! All of us!” Dina said.

“I will go too!” Lukas said looking around at all the girls going in.

“I though you said you wouldn’t go in there,” Ellie said looking at him like he was an idiot.

“I… I am not scare to go,” He said as everyone where looking at him.

“You got nothing to prove, dude, just stay outside and keep everyone safe,” Abby said.

“Let’s go,” Ellie said.

We moved around the building trying to find a way inside. we ended up smashing a window to get in. Inside the first room where two runners standing and whimpering. They hadn’t seen us. I aimed my bow and shot the first one in the head. Ellie walked quietly to the second one and put a knife in its throat. We walked further inside but the infected were few and far between.

Then we walked through a door. On the inside doorknob were a robe tied. When we opened the door, the rope got tense and destroyed an unstable pillar where the other end of the rope was tied and just as we got inside, the ceiling broke. Debris were raining down on us mixed with different infected. A piece of concrete hit me on the head and I fell down. I felt the bleed running down my face but it was nothing compared to the horror I was witnessing. Emily was on the floor fighting an infected. Abby was bleeding too, but I couldn’t see from what. She was fighting and shooting but that meant that every infected in the room were running her way. Ellie was nowhere to be seen. Abby was somehow holding her own. So, I just got up on my knees and shot an arrow in the head of the infected on top of Emily. She got up and ran to help Abby without thinking. I started shooting arrows around too. The blood was getting in my eyes making it harder to see but I was safe because my bow was silent and Abby’s gun where distracting every infected in the room. Nobody where looking my way. I don’t know how Abby did it but she was shooting and running around like a crazy person, surviving. Emily was fighting too, but she was clearly not as experienced. I spend most of my arrows saving her. An infected, a demon was suddenly behind me and I had to let go of my bow and fight with my knife. It was a woman, maybe a teacher before the infection, and she was strong. The demon pushed me down on the ground and got on top. I got the knife into her throat like I had seen Ellie do before. The blood was all over my face and the rest of me but the demon was dead. Its deadweight pushed me further down into the rubble and I had to turn my face away from the dead face on top of me. There down flat on the floor with my face turned I saw her. Ellie was lying under the biggest piece of concrete that fell from the ceiling.

“Lev, are you okay?” Abby yelled when she saw me under the dead demon. She moved the body away and helped me up.

“Where is Ellie?” Emily asked. Emily was bleeding too from cuts and we were all covered in dust.

“She is under that?” I said pointing to the piece of concrete on the floor. Abby didn’t hesitate she just started moving the thing. Ellie was unconscious when we got her out. Abby picked her up and we started moving. I was walking in front with my bow and Emily walked right behind me. We got inside the sport hall without problems and got the doors up. Lukas walked through the door with his gun out like he was a secret agent. Stupid.

“It’s clear,” Emily said. I was aware that we were all bleeding and covered in dust when Dina looked at us, and Ellie, Ellie was unconscious in Abby’s arms.

“What happened?” Dina said running to Ellie looking her over.

“The ceiling came down on top us. I think she will be okay. She got knocked out.” Abby said putting Ellie down on the floor. Abby helped Dina look Ellie over to make sure everything would be fine, while I and everyone else helped getting the horses and the wagon inside.

I walked to my stuff trying to get some water when I heard it. Dina and Abby were talking quietly away from everyone else.

“What really happened today? Can I trust you with Ellie or are you still after revenge?” Dina asked quietly.

“The ceiling came down and infected attacked us. That happens when you walk through old and infected buildings.” Abby whispered back.

“I can’t lose her again and if you are against us,” Dina whispered.

“I am not. I want to live, just like you but we can’t keep going like this, it is too dangerous to hide in places like this every day,” Abby whispered.

“I know but if Tommy find us,” Dina whispered.

“I would rather fight Tommy and his people in one big blowout then fighting infected every day like this from here to the east coast,” Abby whispered.

“Okay, I get it,” Dina whispered and looked around spotting me close by.

“Hey, Abby would you mind going back with me into the school. I want to collect my arrows and maybe look for supplies.” I said pretending I hadn’t heard the conversation.

“Yeah, sure. We’ll be right back,” Abby said to Dina and we left the hall looking for supplies.

I wanted to trust Dina but maybe she didn’t really trust Abby or me. I didn’t really know what to think.


	13. So it goes…

The next few weeks were different. We didn’t stop at any cities or towns. We rode all day and camped at night. I spend most of the time making more arrows but I also found myself making a small statue of the prophet. It still meant a lot to me that she was guiding me on this journey. I spend most of my time with Abby but for some reason Lukas decided to spend most of his time with Abby too. It was mostly annoying. At first, she mostly ignored him but I think maybe she missed talking to someone her own age that didn’t kill all her friends, but I didn’t like it.

This day wasn’t any different. We had put up all the tents and Abby and me was sitting at the campfire. I was working on my statue when Lukas came.

“Hey, Abby” He said smiling I looked up at him mostly just annoyed.

“… and Lev of course, hi. Abby I've been wondering if you want to go for a walk with me,” Lukas said not really looking at me.

“Why not?” Abby said and started to stand up.

“I guess everyone could use a walk after traveling all day,” I said ironically.

“I was thinking that Abby and I could take a grown-up walk, alone” Lukas said finally looking at me. Abby hesitated.

“Is it okay for me to go for a walk with Lukas? Will you be okay?” She asked me. I looked at them for a second. She seemed to like him but I just think that he seemed sleezy.

“Yeah, I will be okay in a camp full of people we know,” I said with a little irritation in my voice. I didn't mean to take it out on her, it just happened.

“Okay, I will be back soon,” She said and walked away with him.

I worked a bit longer on my statue when Ida walked up to me.

“Hey have you seen my brother?” She asked.

“Yeah he went for a walk with Abby,” I said looking at her.

“Okay, if you see him, will you tell him that mom is looking for him?” She asked.

“Yeah, of course,” I said and smiled. She walked away. I really liked Ida and her mother Camilla; I just didn’t like her brother Lukas. After a while I got bored alone at the campfire and got up to walk around. Camilla was going through some of her stuff. One of the things that really seemed important to her was a small dark red book.

“Hi,” I said sitting down beside her.

“Hi, Lev. Where is Abby?” She asked, smiling at me.

“Out walking with Lukas,” I said.

“Hmm. Makes sense,” She said still smiling.

“What are you doing?” I asked

“Oh, just looking through some old stuff. Mostly memories.” She said.

“Yeah, what is that?” I asked point to the small red book.

“This is my passport. My Danish passport. I kept it to remind myself that I have a home somewhere far away from here,” she said and opened it to show me a picture of a young woman who looked a little like her.

“What is a passport?” I asked. She looked at me surprised.

“A passport is a document from your home country that shows where you are from, I guess,” she said.

“I don’t have a passport,” I said looking at the small book.

“No, I guess you don’t. Neither do Ida, or Lukas, or I guess most of you here never had one. None of you were born into an organized country.” She said.

“I guess not,” I said. Lukas walked past us with a big smile.

“Lukas, I was looking for you,” Camilla said.

“What now, mom?” he said. I stood up.

“Talk to you later,” I said to Camilla and went looking for Abby without looking at Lukas at all.

Abby was sitting at our campfire again. She had a grass stain on her shirt and was picking small branches out of her hair.

“Did you get into a fight?” I asked when I saw her.

“What? No, of course not,” she said. I didn’t understand how she got branches in her hair and grass on her shirt if she didn’t get into a fight unless… No… Ew… not with him… God, I hope she didn’t with him! I just didn’t ask again.

We kept traveling like that only stopping to sleep, eat and hunt, and one day we arrived at Newport News without seeing Tommy again.


End file.
